Aside from pro-life demonstrations that happened daily, the biggest issue looming over the convention was immigration.

On Thursday, a large group (accounts seem to vary as to how many, with some estimates at 3000, some at 700) of protesters descended on LoDo, shutting down transit and tying up traffic. I was able to catch up with a group of high school students, many of whom have parents that are immigrants. They are calling for Immigration reform that includes more than just enforcement. Here’s what they had to say:

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One of the best panels I sat in on was Viral Videos and Social Networks: How Campaigning has Changed Forever, moderated by Fred Goldring, executive producer of the Yes We Can video and former Chairman of Rock the Vote. Will.I.Am himself was there to talk about the genesis of Yes we Can project along with Facebook’s Chris Kelly, Marc Morgenstern, Executive Director of Declare Yourself, and Max Berstein from Common Sense NMS Political Director.

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The most interesting party was definitely the Unconventional ‘08 VIP party at the Manifest Hope gallery. The party was hosted by MoveOn.org, Shephard Fairey and San Fran Mayor Gavin Newsom and his lovely wife Jen. Shephard’s art was on display, along with both known and new contemporary artists, including painters, sculptors and street artists, all of whom created pieces that celebrate the progressive, grassroots energy of the Obama campaign. Here is a video of some of the artists talking about their inspiration, as well as the importance of a candidate who has a strong arts and education policy.

Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie), Jenny Lewis (Rilo Kiley), Zooey Deschanel (She and Him), Matthew Caws (Nada Surf) and Jonathan Rice all performed in acoustic rounds. They sounded beyond great. It was a bit of a throw back to 70’s folk with a little bit of contemporary irony. My favorite song was Love Hurts dedicated to Barack and Hillary.

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I’m not going to lie – I haven’t been invited to this many parties in a week since college. I simply can’t do it anymore and ended up missing several. You find yourself trying to be in several places at once, not able to enjoy where you are. Kinda not the point. However, there were some standouts!

For instance the DoSomething party with Moby was a blast.

Mostly because I was able to catch up with another personal hero of mine, Darfur Now’s Adam Sterling. Adam’s work passing Sudan divestment legislation nationwide earned him a nomination in DoSomething’s Teen Choice awards. Unfortunately, he didn’t win (despite the numerous creative ways I personally had found to vote). As a finalist he will be featured on Doritos bags though!!! Hopefully this will result in a whole new level of awareness for the Sudan Divestment Task Force, of which he is the director, and its umbrella organization The Genocide Intervention Network.

Adam Sterling and DoSomething CEO Nancy Lupin:

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Walking the club floors, you run into a wide variety of people, some of whom I was able to get on camera and some not (did I mention the technology black hole). It was both exciting and a little nuts. My basic approach was stand still long enough and people will literally walk right into you. For example:

The Daily Show’s Ron Riggle and former Cali Gov. Gray Davis – do you think Davis knows who he’s talking to?? Wish I could hear!

Hillary after the jump! Read more!

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Ugh, I’m totally delinquent in posting these updates. I fell into a technology black hole, followed soon after by a mental black hole brought on by intense sensory overload. I’m not complaining AT ALL but I can’t remember the last time I had so much to do in one week!! Let me try to catch you up. Wendy asked about the lay of the land so let me walk you through my day on the convention floor.
To get in you have to pass through the outer security perimeter. There is constant activity in LoDo but when you approach the perimeter it gets really quite - it’s almost a little eerie.

Once at the convention, the madness starts with the lines. There are always lines to get in and depending on how backed up security is it can take up to an hour. I was lucky and bypassed this particular part of the process, but that will have to be my secret for now.

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

TakePart Gang:

Chasing the DNC Flame by Fonda Berosini

TakePart at Slow Food Nation by Wendy Cohen

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Nicole Hughes:

State Fair Having Trouble Keeping It Green

TOMS Wrap Boot: Shoe Addicts Saving Lives

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Andy Kondrat:

Mexican Gov Spends $16M to Save Endangered Porpoise

Wilco Offers Section on Website for Carpooling to Shows

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Jon Popham:

Portland Gym Utilizes Human Energy

Angkor Wat Threatened by Tourism Boom

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Gina Telaroli:

10 Powerful Women Using Their Power for Good

10 A+ Worthy Movie and TV Teachers

Just ran into Samantha Power – foreign policy expert, human rights advocate and one of my personal heroes.

Samantha was one of the first journalists in the US to talk about Darfur and has worked tirelessly to raise awareness about it. She is often credited with bringing Obama up to speed on the issue – if you notice he mentions it often now. It’s hard to believe sometimes that this is still going on. Actually, it’s heartbreaking. takepart with our Darfur Now campaign.

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David Orr went on to moderate the next panel titled, Climate Problems and Solutions; Local to Global with Bill Becker , Executive Director of the Presidential Climate Action Project; Robert Kennedy Jr, Chief Prosecuting Attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper and President of Waterkeeper Alliance; and Michelle Wyman, Executive Director for the US Office of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability.

Darryl Hannah, who looked stunning in person, introduced the panel. She was extremely well versed on the subject and seemed to speak from the heart when introducing the panel.

But, it was Robert Kennedy Jr. who stole the show. Wow. I don’t know if it’s his lineage, good looks or political savvy but he was all that and more. He made a strong argument for using federal funds to build out infrastructure to transmit clean energy. There is enough energy in the barren northwest to power the whole country, we just lack the means to get it where it needs to go. He also talked about the importance of creating a free market driven by clean energy where innovators are incentivized and inefficiency is punished. So instead of trillion dollar subsidies to oil companies, the wind farmer in Texas would finally be styling!

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I sat in on same great panels today. And let just say that while the media has been preoccupied with creating controversy and ill will between the Obama and Clinton camps, the mood on the ground is far from derisive. And there is overwhelming consensus on the issue of the environment. In the Big Tent, there were two great panels featuring leading experts in the space. The first featured Lester Brown, a lifelong advocate and head of the Earth Policy Institute; Randy Hayes, Climate Policy Officer at the World Future Council; David Orr, Author, Environmentalist, named “an Environmentalist Hero for 2004″ by Interiors & Sources Magazine; and Chuck Kutscher, Principal Engineer and Manager of the Thermal Systems Group at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Betsy Taylor, executive director of the Center for a New American Dream, moderated.

There were so many strong points made that I wouldn’t even know where to begin so I’ll focus on what was not outright said. This group is frustrated. They have spent the better part of 20 years proving that the science is right, the technology is there, and yet the political will hasn’t materialized to bring clean, renewable energy into the mainstream. Chuck Kutscher asked, How long would you drive your car in the red? and David Orr went so far as to say, that it is the greatest political failure in history.

Excerpts from the panel will be posted on the Big Tent’s YouTube channel so check in often:

http://www.youtube.com/bigtentdenver

David Orr was one of 50 leading scientists featured in The 11th Hour. takepart at the 11th Hour Action site, , for tips on what you can do!

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